The Textbook of Architecture

The Cabinet of Models

Intercolumniation

Vitruvius III.3: five ways of spacing columns, and why wider spacing asks for stouter columns.

Intercolumniation Open in Models ↗

Illustrates: Ancient Greek · Ancient Roman

The rules it illustrates

The five intercolumniations. Columns may be spaced 1½ diameters apart (pycnostyle), 2 (systyle), 2¼ (eustyle), 3 (diastyle) or more (araeostyle). The eustyle, with a wider central bay of 3 diameters, is the best for use and beauty.

Where it appears in the book

In the chapters What Is Architecture?, The Tuscan Order, Columns in Company.

The terms it shows

Intercolumniation